The Leading of God

January 30.

If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
even there shall Thy hand lead me,
and Thy right hand shall hold me.

PSALM 139, verses 9 and 10.


I cannot lose Thee! Still in Thee abiding,
The end is clear, how wide soe'er I roam;
The Hand that holds the worlds my steps is guiding,
And I must rest at last in Thee, my home.

E. SCUDDER.



How can we come to perceive this direct
leading of God? By a careful looking at home,
and abiding; within the gates of thy own soul.
Therefore, let a man be at home in his own heart,
and cease from his restless chase of and search
after outward things. If he is thus at home while
on earth, he will surely come to see what there
is to do at home,--what God commands him
inwardly without means, and also outwardly
by the help of means; and then let him surrender
himself, and follow God along whatever path his
loving Lord thinks fit to lead him: whether it be
to contemplation or action, to usefulness or
enjoyment; whether in sorrow or in joy, let him
follow on. And if God do not give him thus to feel
His hand in all things, let him still simply yield
himself up, and go without, for God's sake, out
of love, and still press forward.

J. TAULER.